Frontier will carry Oskar Blues water to Puerto Rico, return stranded home

A pair of Colorado companies are working together to ship drinking water to Puerto Rico as the island struggles with the fallout from Hurricane Maria.

Frontier Airlines said Thursday it will be loading the cargo holds of some of its planes with cases of water canned by Boulder County-based Oskar Blues Brewery.

The planes, leaving from Frontier’s home base of Denver International Airport, will connect with a single, daily Frontier flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to a joint news release.

The first shipment is expected to touch down Friday afternoon.

Each flight will bring back stranded travelers, officials say.

In total, 3,800 cases — 91,200 cans — will be delivered through the partnership.

Nearly half of the 3.4 million people who live in Puerto Rico had no access to drinking water as of Thursday morning, NBC News reported.

The shipments are made possible by Oskar Blue’s CAN’d Aid Foundation charity.

The organization has raised $107,500 for hurricane relief since 2013, thanks in part to a $50,000 match from Oskar Blues. The brewery halted beer production several times this month to can water for those impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to the news release.

CAN’d Aid helped distribute 433,000 cans of water in Texas and Florida in September.

“When towns and areas are hit hard by natural or man-made disasters, water supplies are often the first thing to go,” Oskar Blues and CAN’d Aid founder Dale Katechis said in a news release. “In Puerto Rico, we had no immediate way to help, but with generous support from Frontier Airlines, we’re now able to lend a hand — fast — because it’s the right thing to do and because we can.”